Quick Update and New Resources

It is quite a long time now that we haven’t written here, because quite a few things happened since our last post. Services are finally reopening, which means that libraries too are welcoming patrons back again. We also had our annual Local Heritage Month, which concluded last month (May). In amidst all this, there were a good number of requests for research of local and family history (this is still happening behind closed doors).

Today we would like to give you some more information on Local Heritage Month, as you might find that the resources we created can be useful in your research or just inspire your curiosity (talking to our local history aficionados!).

With the colleagues from East Kilbride, Hamilton and Rutherglen, we have been busy creating videos on these areas as well as eBooks, delineating peculiar aspects of the local history of such places.

For example, at Lanark Reference, we made a series of short videos showing you the various rooms of Lanark Library. Here is the first instalment of the Lanark Library Tour

You can find the other “stops” of the tour at the following links:

• Lanark Library Tour – Part 2 – IT, Non-Fiction and more!
• Lanark Library Tour – Part 3 – The Local History Room and Archive
• Lanark Library Tour – Part 4 – The Reference Room
• Lanark Library Tour – Part 5 – The Secret Room

Remaining in the Upperward of Lanarkshire, you can find the very entertaining and informative videos of Ethyl Smith talking about the Covenanters, especially those from Lesmahagow and its surroundings. For those of you who don’t know her, she is an author from Lesmahagow and she has written four books on the Covenanting times in Lanarkshire, with particular attention to historical details. The books are: Changed Times, Dark Times, Desperate Times and Broken Times. You will find the video absolutely captivating. Just a note: she speaks in a strong Scottish accent, so for those of you not accustomed to it, might be a bit difficult, but we assure you, you won’t regret it!

You can find her videos at the following links:

• Ethyl Smith – Part 1
• Ethyl Smith – Part 2
• Ethyl Smith – Part 3
• Ethyl Smith – Part 4.

As we were saying earlier, Local Heritage Month involves all the historical areas of South Lanarkshire, so on our YouTube channel you can find also the videos covering the areas of East Kilbride, Hamilton and Rutherglen. Have a look!

We also prepared many eBooks. These are available only on the Local Content of BorrowBox for the members of South Lanarkshire Libraries: this is free for all those living in South Lanarkshire. However, you can register for only the online services so that you can check out our eBooks (more info here and here).

In the meantime, we will give you a sneak peek of what you can find:

– 50 Years Have Passed Since… (pt. 1 and 2): The year 1971 through the front pages of the Carluke and Lanark Gazette

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-Curiosities of the Upper Ward of Lanarkshire: A collection of peculiarities from places near you

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Historic Lanarkshire: 100 years ago in the Upperward Lanarkshire

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Visions from the Past: South Lanarkshire

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Rutherglen Official Handbook 1954: Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, Scotland’s Oldest Royal Burgh

The Burgh of Hamilton, Lanarkshire: The Official Guide 1970

And so much more!

Hopefully you’ll find these resources useful and you’ll enjoy browsing them.

Happy researching!

A Douglas Ghost Story

Apparently the Upper Ward of Lanarkshire is haunted by ghosts: paranormal investigators have been to places like New Lanark, the Clydesdale Inn, Birkwood Castle, etc. looking for proof of these local ghost stories. Recently someone also enquired about ghosts in Baronal House/Cartland Craigs Hotel.

Obviously, this is really not easy to prove, but Scotland has a history of paranormal activties and I found myself reading Ghosts, Spirits and Spectres of Scotland by Francis Thompson, which gives an account of some stories from Scottish folklore. The Victorian Era was very prolific with paranormal studies, so much so that in 1882 in the United Kingdom the Society for Psychical Research was founded, it being ‘the first scientific organisation ever to examine claims of psychic and paranormal phenomena’.

Here, in the Upperward, there is a maybe less known story, of the ghost of a mysterious woman and the only account of it can be found in the book Douglasdale: Its History and Traditions by J. D. Hutchison.

In a secluded part of the Windrow Woods is a simple headstone bearing the words “Eliz. Cambel”, marking the site of what has been known to several generations of Douglasians as “The Woman’s Grave”. In 1832 this woman, a tramp, collapsed on the road near Glespin and was carried into the smithy there, where she died. At the time cholera was rife in Glasgow district, and as it was feared that Elizabeth Campbell was a victim of the dread disease her body was hastily interred in a corner of the nearby wood.

A belief current in the neighbourhood last century that the Windrow Wood was haunted may possibly have originated in this unorthodox burial. Few people would venture among the trees after dusk, and parents seeking to satisfy the curiosity of their children over the arrival of a new member of the family, would say that the baby had been brought by the doctor from the Windrow Wood, the place beyond mortal comprehension.

I wouldn’t recommend visiting Windrow Woods during All Hallows Eve…

Sources:

-Hutchison, J.D., in collaboration with G MacFeat with a foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Home, K. T. (1940) Douglasdale: Its History and Traditions
-Thompson, F., (1984) Ghosts, Spirits and Spectres of Scotland
–The British Library
–Clydesdale’s Heritage
–The Ghost Club
–Paranormal Database
–Scottish Gatherings
–Society for the Psychical Research

Oh Mighty Almanac!

Oh, Mighty Almanac, what is that you don’t know? You tell us about the moon phases and when to harvest our vegetable. And again you tell us the relevant places of a town and its officers and clerks. And what would we do without your calendar?

A curious little book, the Almanac: something that maybe in contemporary times can be considered superflouous because Internet contains almost all that information, but it is such a relevant source for the local historian.

This is always a great place to start looking for people and businesses: especially if the people were holding public positions such as bankers, post office workers, teachers, etc. In the same little book you can find also information about the troops and officers of that area, Ministers of the Churches of the nearby parishes and the various Societies and Associations and their members. It really is a cornucopia of precious local information! Not to consider that there are many adverts for local businesses, providing information such as the shop’s address and owners. At Lanark Library we have some almanacs from 1860s!

Remember to always check these little books when you’re doing your research!

Remains of an Old Barony: Braidwood

In the Parish of Carluke there is a small village, but with a history that goes back to the medieval times: Braidwood.

If you remember, we already talked about another barony in the Carluke Parish, that of Mauldslie.

This time we are talking about a smaller and probably less known, but important nevertheless.

From the books The upper ward of Lanarkshire described and delineated and the Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland we can get quite a clear idea of the history of this barony: Braidwood goes back to the time of Robert The Bruce, when he granted these lands -with the ones of Zuleshills and Hevidis- to Sir John de Monfode. It then passed on the hands of the Earls of Douglas, Earls of Angus, Chancellor Maitland, the Earl of Lauderdale, the Douglases again, to end up in the possession of the Lockhart of Carnwath around the end of the seventeenth century (“ In the rolls of the Parliament of 1681, wherein he represented the county, he is designed Sir George Lockhart of Braidwood”).

Braidwood was also the place where “in 1861 died Andrew Anderson, champion draught-player of Scotland” as the Gazetteer reports.

In the lands of this barony were also found some ancient artefacts of which a quick description can be found in both The Upperward and the Ordnance Gazetter.

But Braidwood is maybe more known for a building that is now listed Category A: Hallbar Tower. According to Irving, this building is from the 11^th century. However, there is no mention of it until 16^th century. With the passing of the property of Braidwood barony through various hands over the time, this Tower too has been property of the different Earls and Lords: it has been owned by the Lockhart family until 2004 and it is now used as a rentable cottage where you can spend your holidays in the original building (though it has been restored twice).

Such a unique place, this ex-barony!

Books
–Irving, G. V. (1864). The upper ward of Lanarkshire described and delineated

–Groome, F. H. Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland : a survey of Scottish topography, statistical, biographical and historical

The Circus comes to town!

John Swallow’s Circus, 1910 (Circus’ Posters Collection at Lanark Library)

These are some of the many circus’ posters that are held in the Local History and Archive Room of Lanark Library: they span from late 1800s to recent years.

What is interesting of these posters, is the attention to details in the earlier ones, in contrast to the more solid forms of the most recent posters. For example this is the detail from a 1928 circus poster

Detail from Henle’s Great Circus, 1928 (Circus’ Posters Collection at Lanark Library)

This other one is from 2009

Continental Circus Berlin, 2009 (Circus’ Posters Collection at Lanark Library)

Some more posters that can be found in the Local History and Archive Room:

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More posters can be found at the Local History and Archive Room, come and visit us!

At the source of the Clyde

Last time we went to Crawfordjohn Parish with our Victorian train, passing through the Parish of Crawford.

Since I already introduced you to the southernmost area of Lanarkshire, this time I would like to stop here for some naturalistic remarks. So let’s jump on the first train to Elvanfoot to explore this area.

Elvanfoot Station (from the Postcard Collection at Lanark Library)

The main reason for this stop is because the territory of this parish is largely occupied by The Lowthers Hills where the River Clyde has its source. This river is the second-longest in Scotland (after the Tay) and it is the one going north through Lanarkshire towards Glasgow and ending in the Firth of Clyde. The two rivers forming the Clyde are Potrail Water and Daer Water, and they meet a decent hike away from Elvanfoot. As reported by Rev. James Maconochie in the Statistical Account of Scotland “the 3 principal rivers in the south of Scotland, viz. The Clyde the Tweed and the Annan, have their sources in the hills which divide us from the Tweed-Muir”. He goes on describing the hills: “The hill called the Lauders is chiefly within this parish and is the highest in the south of Scotland”

This was a very popular spot when the railway was built in this area. Irving reports that “When the Caledonian Railway was opened for traffic throughout in the spring of 1848, many were the parties who started from Glasgow to ‘explore the source of their river– the Clyde’ who leaving the Rail at Elvanfoot station, had a stiff walk up hill, north-east, few went without a fair supply of bottles, to be emptied, and filled with the pure water of the Little Clyde – it may be, to be tested at home as to its virtues in the mixing of toddy, so well made the Molendinar”.

I hI haven’t touched much of the history aspect for today, but I’ll leave you with a curious fact: the only mansion in Crawford was that of the same Irving co-author of the book Upper Ward of Lanarkshire.

Sources
Books
– Irving, George Vere (1864) The upper ward of Lanarkshire described and delineated;
–Sinclair, J. (1791) The statistical account of Scotland. Drawn up from the communications of the ministers of the different parishes Vol IV

Websites
–National Library of Scotland – Map Images

Peculiarities of a denomination – Crawfordjohn

On the M74 from Carlisle to Lanark, you’ll find yourself in the historic Crawford Parish: this is the southernmost part of Lanarkshire and it is also the same main tract that carriages used to follow going north from Carlisle. Not much has changed over time, especially with consideration to the environment around you. Except for the fact that once, this road was busy bringing tourists to this area and there was much work thanks to the various lead and coal mines in the surroundings. At some point there was so much tourism and work that a railway was built to accommodate the movement of people and goods. Then, for various reasons there was a decline in both and with the “Beeching Axe” in 1960s, the railway in this area was among those affected by the cutting scheme.

However, let’s imagining being on one of those trains going up: it would touch the stations of Elvanfoot and Crawford in the Parish of Crawford. It would then enter Crawfordjohn Parish (bit confusing, right?) and while in theory the only station here is that of Abington, this was actually built on the other side of the Clyde making it fall under the Parish of Crawford. Yes, so no stations for Crawfordjohn Parish. The train goes on towards Lamington, then Symington where it bifurcates with one line going North and another going East.

John Airey’s Railway Map of Scotland, 1875 Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

But let’s go back South, to Crawfordjohn Parish. In giving the etymology of the name of this parish, Irving writes

This is very singular. There is no other parish, not even village, in Scotland which is designated by a family and Christian name, joined together in the unusual and apparently awkward construction which places the former before the latter. This peculiarity, however, appears to be accounted for by the circumstances attending the foundation of the church and the creation of the barony.

John Thomson’s Atlas of Scotland, 1832 Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

In the Statistical Accounts of Scotland, Rev. Mr. William Miller, similarly reports that “The appellation of the parish is supposed to have been taken from some person of the name of Crawford having had interest in it, and the addition of John has been affixed by way of distinguishing it from a contiguous parish, called simply Crawford, or sometimes Crawford-Douglas, or Lindsay.” Yes, do you remember when arriving here on the Victorian train you passed through Crawford Parish? Crawfordjohn as a parish comes later in the history of the UpperWard. By now, you are probably a bit more familiar with the work of Irving and Murray, if you are not, I’ll just say that they have a distinctive modus operandi, investigating all the parishes of the Upper Ward in great details, using various material like ordnance maps, charters, books, etc. in order to recreate the history of this zone. They also use a “divide et impera” kind of approach, where Irving focuses on the archaeological and historical aspects of the parishes, and Murray focuses on the statistical and topographical aspects. In this case, as they usually do, they explained how Crawfordjohn came to have this name. The correlation is with a John de Crawford, that in the twelfth century had lands in the (not-yet-named-so) Crawfordjohn parish. These were only identified as “the church and the ville of John” or “the lands of John” and only at the end of the thirteenth century they became a barony. And so Irving reports:

The church and the village did not owe their origin or name to the family of Crawford, but to another. From their founder they were know as the church and the ville of John, the stepson of Baldwin. The latter part of this description would inevitably be soon dropped, and the village become known as the ville de Johannis or Johnstown.Its superiority passed at an early period to the Crawford, but they had then no grant of barony. When they obtained this in the latter part of the thirteenth century, it was necessary to give the erection a distinctive name. The barony of Crawford was not sufficient, because the barony of Crawford-Lindsay had been previously established in the next parish. Some adjunct was therefore necessary. What could more naturally furnish this than the name of the only village in the barony where its courts must necessarily be held?

And that’s how Crawfordjohn got its name. Such a peculiarity!

Sources
Books
– Irving, George Vere (1864) The upper ward of Lanarkshire described and delineated;
–Sinclair, J. (1791) The statistical account of Scotland. Drawn up from the communications of the ministers of the different parishes Vol VI

Websites
–National Library of Scotland – Map Images

Another stroll in the Upper Ward

I still remember the first time I went to Biggar, this small town halfway between Lanark and Peebles, not too far from Edinburgh. The town maintains almost a Victorian air and it is such a lovely place for a walk. Despite being wee, Biggar is full of culture, history and artisanal products.

If we start our walk from the top of High Street with Edinburgh at our backs, we’ll see the Biggar and Upper Clydesdale Museum on our left and a bit further along the same side of the street there is the Corn Exchange: this building is from the Victorian time, built in 1860 and used generally for the trade of grains, as the name gives away. We see that the street is quite large, with extra spaces on the left and on the right, with trees and greenery: this hasn’t changed much as Irving in 1864 wrote: “Now, good houses have been built, ornamental trees planted , gas lamps put up, shops enlarged, sewers covered, etc., so that the High Street has now a very spacious and respectable appearance. Biggar consists of a main street, two back streets and the West-raw”.

High Street with Corn Exchange on the right (Postcards Collection at Lanark Library)

In front of the Corn Exchange we notice “The Elphinstone Hotel and Restaurant”: this is probably the oldest building in Biggar, dating as far back as the 17^th century. The name is from the Elphinstone family that ruled the area after the Flemings.

Proceeding on the High Street we can see many lovely shops on both sides and then the Gillespie Centre on the left side. This was once one of the churches of Biggar (South United Presbyterian Church), but when the congregations got reunited, the building has been redeployed as community centre, run mostly by volunteers. This is where we can stop for a coffee.

South United Presbyterian Church (now Gillespie Centre) on the right (Postcards Collection at Lanark Library)

After this pause, we go for the last part of our walk. Let’s go ahead on this same street until we find a very picturesque wee square with the War Monument and the Cadger’s Bridge. Legend says that William Wallace crossed this same bridge at the beginning of the 14^th century, when English troops were stationed near Biggar. We can imagining him, studying the best ways to defeat the troops and help freeing Scotland. Alas, while we can certainly fantasize about this, the Bridge wasn’t built until later on, probably 17^th-18^th centuries.

Cadger’s Bridge (Postcards Colelction at Lanark Library)

Let’s now take that wee road going up to the Gas Works Road where we see the Gasworks Showroom and Museum: as the name suggests, that’s where the gas works were in operation from early 1800. The gas was made from coal and distributed for heating and lighting in Biggar and district.

The same road will become a pedestrian route, with a park on the left: at the end of this path, on your right you’ll have what was once the North United Presbyterian Church (Moat Park Church) built in 1865, now a museum. In front of it, there is Biggar Kirk, where we finish our walk. This church, as it is now, was built in 1545-6 when “Malcolm Lord Fleming founded a collegiate church at Biggar, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin of the Assumption, and called the College of the Blessed Virgin in Biggar”.

Biggar Kirk on the left and the North United Presbyterian Church on the right. The steeple is the one of the South United Presbyterian Church. (Postcards Collection at Lanark Library)

While our walk ends here, this is not all regarding Biggar! There is much to talk about Boghall Castle and the Flemings, the Albion Museum and a couple of buildings by the architect William Leiper. But that’s all for today!

Sources:

Books
–Irving, G. V. (1864). The upper ward of Lanarkshire described and delineated

Websites
–Biggar Kirk

In Carnwath Parish

Carnwath Parish

There are two things this Parish is quite well known for: the strong connection to the Lords Somerville family, and coal extraction.

Carnwath Parish, extract from Forrest map 1813

About the Somerville, that’s quite a long history, because this name has been in Scotland for centuries. It has several variations, but according to the book “The surnames of Scotland: their origin, meaning and history” by George F. Black, this surname is of Norman origins and the first time it appears on an official paper is during the reign of King David I: William de Sumervilla was a witness to a royal charter and also was granted some lands in Lanarkshire (Carnwath was amongst them) by the King. With this, the Somervilles have been in Carnwath for a long time, reinforcing their presence by creating a Baronage that started a sequence of 19 Lords Somervilles, up until late 19^th century. If you want to dig more in the history of this name, you should read the “Memorie of the Somervilles”. However, as George V. Irving wrote in his Upper Ward of Lanarkshire, the facts displayed in the Memorie are contrasting with what is detailed in the book “Douglas Peerage” so this is a great way to dive into more history because don’t you want to know where are they discordant? On what do they agree?

As I was saying, the historical Parish of Carnwath is also famous for coal extraction. The elderly in places like Tarbrax, Forth, Haywood still recall the mine works that were in operation well into the 1950s.

Haywood (Postcards Collection at Lanark Library)

When looking at Ordnance Survey maps from mid 1800s, you’ll see many “Coal Pits” especially around Haywood, Wilsontown and Forth. Although not specific to coal extraction, Tarbrax had a very important role in the shale oil industry (the “Tarbrax Oil Works” was a strong presence in the area employing hundreds of men).

Tarbrax (Postcards Collection at Lanark Library)

Another typical miners’ village is Forth: the row of houses on each sides of the road that goes from Lanark to Livingston. What you see now is almost the same as what Irving reported in the Upper Ward of Lanarkshire: “The village of Forth is a long row of slated houses to the east and west of the broad highway to Edinburgh. The inn is of modest pretensions, standing apart in a square of its own, ground apparently not over-valuable. The shops are pretty numerous but without plate-glass; there is a sub post office”. Since then, only few new buildings have be added to the village: a primary school and a lovely library that hosts monthly reminiscence meetings (everybody is welcome!).

Forth (Postcards Collection at Lanark Library)

There is more to learn about this parish, but this is for the next time!

Sources:

Books;

– Sir Robert Douglas (1764) The peerage of Scotland : containing an historical and genealogical account of the nobility of that kingdom, from their origin to the present generation: collected from the public records, and ancient chartularies of this nation, the charters, and other writings of the nobility, and the works of our best historians …;

– Irving, George Vere (1864) The upper ward of Lanarkshire described and delineated;

– Baron James Somerville (1815) Memorie of the Somervilles; being a history of the baronial house of Somerville

Hidden knowledge

While looking for some images of the Clyde Valley and the production of tomatoes, I came across a booklet that I managed to digitise before lockdown and it came in useful for a couple of researches that were focussing on that area: it is called “Crossford in Clydesdale between 1800 and 1950” by Walter Stewart Forrest. This booklet is a collection of 40 pages, A4 format, printed at home. But the type and amount of information that you can find there is just amazing! Crossford is a small village in the Clyde Valley, sitting on the shores of the Clyde with other villages like Kirkfieldbank, Hazelbank and Rosebank (I bet that with these poetic/romantic names you would like to visit them! And trust me that they are beautiful places, worth visiting in every season).

Crossford from the raised site at the head of the village (Photographs Collection, Lanark Library)

There are few other booklets of the sort, usually written by a local person from that area who knows everything that happened there, who’s also often the person people refer to in matters of local history. When such a person decides to write about what they know, oh, it’s a godsend for our Archives and Local History/Reference Rooms! Not only they help the contemporary community by sharing their history: these are also great sources for the future. Another point in favour of these collections of knowledge is that often they are covering small places (like Crossford) that usually wouldn’t get much attention, and in doing so they provide Archivists and Local History Librarians with wee pearls of local history knowledge that would have otherwise been lost. At Lanark Library there a few of this kind of booklets. For example, one that might be a bit more known to the local history aficionado, is the series of 6 books “Your loving father, Gavin Scott : letters from a Lanarkshire farmer”: one of the great-granddaughters of Gavin Scott collected all the letters he sent away to family members containing information on what was happening in Underbank (near Hazelbank). Gavin Scott was very involved in his community, so you can learn a lot by reading these books.

However, the most extensive of these booklets are the Coalburn Chronicles, by Ian Hamilton: 80 volumes of typewritten A4 pages with so many details on Coalburn and its surrounding area, you’ll have an information overload when you’ve finished with them! But it is worth it, as Mr Hamilton has done a fabulous work, interviewing the villagers and recounting stories of local life, creating a great source of precious information.

Coalburn ca. 1905 (Postcards Collection, Lanark Library)

So, if you are looking for information on some more obscure place or person and you find yourself a bit at loss in your research…don’t! Someone somewhere wrote about that: contact your local library and we’ll provide you with the proper material, we’ll be able to do the research for you or, at the very least, we’ll redirect you in the right direction.

Don’t despair and keep on researching!